The U.S. Men’s National Team will play their final match of the year this morning in the city of Krasnodar as they take on the Russian National Team (10am, ESPN2).
Jurgen Klinsmann has called in a team that is a good mix of regular starters and new young faces to take on a dangerous Russia side that has enjoyed a strong run of form in World Cup Qualifying.
Here is the USMNT lineup for today’s match:
Howard; Chandler, Cameron, Bocanegra (c), F. Johnson; Williams, Jones, Bradley, Gatt; Gomez, Altidore
Yes, that is Josh Gatt preparing to make his U.S. Men’s National Team debut today as a starter.
SBI will be providing live commentary on today’s match so please feel free to follow along with the action here. As always, you are welcome to send us questions, as well as share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Commentary is after the jump):
And Gatt is the one off. Why not Gomez? We know what he can do.
We have mixx, boyd and gyau on the bench and klinnsmann brings Agudelo?
What is Juergen waiting to change? We’ve no ideas in the midfield. Get Diskerud out there. Give him a CHANCE. I’m not calling him a savior. If he doesn’t do well, that’s okay. It’s a friendly. But at least TRY shit.
Agudelo up off the bench… We need to change our central midfield, not swap a forward. This is ridiculous…
Chandler has the most interesting running style. It is unique.
We look a lot better in this second half, and after the first 20 minutes.
What is JKs first change of the second half? Mixx for Williams? Kjlestan for Williams?
The team looks so much better–better than Russia in the second half so far.
The commentary is ridiculous. In no way has Russia dominated this game.
+1
+2
They just want a reason to hate Klinsmann.
What are you talking about? No one is hating on JK. Not in here right now. Isaac is the only one questioning his on field tactics and I hardly call that hating.
They’re talking about the commentary at the top.
We need someone to actually orchestrate the attack. It’s not Jones, and it’s not Bradley. They’re great players individually but we can’t have them on the field at the same time, specially with a defensive midfielder behind them. Bring Diskerud on for Jones, place him directly behind the forwards, then bring Kljestan for Gomez and have him drift into the space between lines. Don’t talk about proactive soccer and then play three box-to-box/defensive midfielders. This is simple stuff. No. Bradley and Jones aren’t pure defensive midfielders, but they’re not attacking midfielders. They’re good at both. That’s not enough. Get a freaking specialist out there and attack.
Freddy Adu!
*ducks*
At this point, how much worse could it be? Not saying I approve, but it’s bound to be better than having Jones and Bradley next to eachother in front of a defensive midfielder. Why does a coach who preaches more proactive, possession soccer not know this?
I just don’t think Diskerud has the chops for this level of play, but I bet we will find out this half.
I would rather him get a chance then keep using Jermaine Jones, who we know isn’t enough if he’s next to another box-to-box central midfielder.
Crow tastes better with a pinch of salt.
Crow tastes better with a pinch of salt.
Ooops…..he made you put your foot in your mouth didn’t he…lol
We are definitely starting to mesh better and play with confidence. Other than the miscommunication on the goal this isn’t half bad for a collection of players that haven’t played together.
Yes the commentary for some reason though seems to think Russia is Barca out there.
I totally understand that we are playing a very strong Russian side. I would be fine if they were winning simply because they’re the better team. What drives me nuts is that we’re losing NOT because Russia is necessarily outplaying us but due to the fact of just silly, silly mistakes that just shouldn’t happen. BAD passes in our own half (to say the least!) and just simple things like not playing the ball to feet, trying to dribble around 3 guys, trying to thread the needle, etc. That’s what drives me nuts.
If you read the match commentary it makes it seem like we’re getting killed out there. We’re pretty much even aside from the blunder to be frank. We’re not being dominated or outplayed by any stretch so far.
Yeah, all doom and gloom commentary. We’ve gone toe to toe outside of that miscommunication. Possession was nearly even and we’ve got up field a few times in good positions.
I don’t think this is a case of being dominated or outplayed. I think this is a case of shooting ourselves in the foot and causing our own problems. Obviously Im referencing the goal, but also about all the easy balls we’ve given up on passes and in possession. All the needless fouling their players when their player is going nowhere. All the times we didn’t challenge for a 50-50
That was the first 30 mins anyway. The last 15 we started rectifying those mistakes and looked muuuuuuch better out there.
What do you expect? All this build up for this game and not once did I see a time posted over the past 4 days for the match.. Sure it’s on ESPN. wtf?
Lalas! Mustache!
JK … yet another poor selection. I think it’s clear to everyone that Williams, Jones and Bradley can not all be on the pitch at the same time.
Surpised the ball hasn’t dropped for us yet..
We don’t look as bad as the commentary makes it seems. Russia isn’t getting many chances either. It’s just a typical away USA game. Compact in the back with brief offensive bursts. In fact we’ve been having more of the ball in the past 20 miuntes or so.
Russia pressing really well.. nobody has any space.
Everyone needs to calm the heck down.
This is Russia. They’re undefeated through qualifying, have not allowed a goal, just beat Portugal pretty soundly. They’ve beaten the Czech Republican 4-1 and Italy 3-0 this year.
They are near being one of the top 5 hottest teams on the planet and we’re holding our own right now starting 3 players that haven’t suited up in a dozen matches.
They’re not starting several of their top guys either and its ok to talk about the USA in respect to itself regardless of its opponent. I don’t hear anyone saying anything that warrants a “calm the heck down” statement. Everything said so far has been pretty reasonable and well said.
Man we look disjointed.
That was an old school Bradley special!
Nice build up. Two in a row to Gatt. Maybe we can see something happen here.
They look totally overmatched here. Nothing connects, no one looks settled.
If the game continues to go this way and then we have to hear from everyone how horrible Jozy was I’ll lose it. He hasn’t seen one iota of service and how’s that his responsibility? I swear he just needs a bit more service than what he’s getting with USA.
He and Gatt can’t find each other yet.
Not Clarence!
Looks like Boca doesn’t feel like being a part of a beat down haha
pleased to see how the US is sticking to the idea of playing the ball through pressure. passes are a little off, yes, but if they stick to this they might be OK.
Damn. USA with horrific touches all over the field, most notably in their own third. Not a good recipe.
Doesn’t appear to be William’s blunder on replay. Jozy inexplicably runs through as he’s taking the kick and he hits Jozy and then the ball.
Wtf was Jozy doing.
…Why is this the only person saying this on here?? Its the truth and no one has said it. Should Danny have looked behind himself when he kicked? Maybe. But its still a crazy coincidence for that to happen, so I’m not even all that mad.
Danny Williams is a commi!
Oh, dear. That was a cheap goal.
Yikes Danny Williams. He doesn’t wanna see that replay. Huuuuuuge blunder.
horrible start.
What’s with the blue vest jerseys? Are the stripes in the wash?
Where is EJ? Where is Wondo?
EJ, mls playoffs. Wondo, he’s hard to find.
Anybody got any good links? at school 🙁
Stream? I’m in Turks and Caicos and my espn account only works in us. Thanks.
Ives, you nailed the lineup! Looking forward to big showings out of Jozy, Gatt and Chandler! Hopefully we see Swagudelo, Mixx, and TBoyd make cameos in the 2nd half also..
C’mon Yanks!!
Where did you get that crest!? Where can I see a larger version? Looks like it says US Soccer. I vote for that to replace the current and very lame US crest.
It’s owned by Nike so the chances of USSF ever getting the rights to it are minuscule at best, but it’s without a doubt the best crest I’ve seen. Here’s a bigger version of it: http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/dan-loney/files/2012/04/us-soccer-dont-tread-on-me.gif
If nothing else, there is some serious speek (excepting Boca) out there.
Espn chat room had a link to an old USA v “Russia” game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QDUgZz3Bys
It’s awesome lol. Mostly for the kits and hairdos. Kinnear’s takes the cake. It’s glorious.
So NO ONE watched this and commented on Dom Kinnear’s epic ‘do? Y’all are missing out, Im telling ya.
Ives is right that Bradley isn’t a defensive midfielder, but I think the main argument is that he and Jones probably aren’t really enough to break down a defense. Bradley is a great balanced presence that should be next to a more creative, shifty midfielder, and in front of an anchor.
Bradley and Jones do have great ball skill for players with such good defensive ability though, and that can make us a great counter attacking team, but last time I checked, that’s not what Juergen was going for.
A little disappointed with the lineup. To me, it would have made more sense to stick to a 4-2-3-1 like what worked well against Guatemala instead of using a 4-3-3 similar to what had it’s issues against A&B. I would have loved to have seen Diskerud given a chance, even if it were in a 4-3-3. Instead, we get Jones next to Bradley in front of Williams. Pretty stale in my mind, but we’ll see. I said this before the Scotland game and we let loose then.
I suppose it’s probably better to try something new off the bench than from the start. It’s just a tad frustrating.
Isaac,
Russia isn’t Guatemala
Arrrgh! Full staff meeting in 20 minutes!
Sigh…I guess I’ll just have to read about all the excitement in the post match analysis.
>:’-( angry,sad,pouty face.
I’m hereby shuting dowing my internet so I can watch the game after work without prehand knowledge of the result. Let’s go USA!
Hope your DVR taped all of the extra time as well…
First time ever getting all 11 starters right and in their position. Call me up Klinsi!
Let’s go boys!!!
This lineup carries a lot offensive potential. let’s see if it gels.
I bet it’s more of a 4-3-3 than a 4-4-2.
Well, given this lineup and this coach and the quality of the opposition, I’m afraid we’re in for a disaster. On the other hand, our recent history of away friendlies against good opponents (Italy, Mexico) seems to indicate otherwise. So, I have no clue.
disaster? what would you rather have seen that would be “less” disastrous David?
It wouldn’t have been a disaster to try out something new, get our asses handed to us, and have a better idea of what doesn’t work rather than trying the same thing that had it’s struggles during qualifying.
other than vodka, what does one bring to a russian pre-match tailgate?
A negative attitude.
Molotov cocktail?…..bazinga.
Bribe money.
Bride Money?
Caviar!
I definitely hope to see Gatt and Chandler combining to make some good runs down the right side, but also expect Gatt and Gomez to switch up some. Could be interesting.
Awesome lineup. I’m looking forward to this!
So excited! Can’t wait !